Oliver Wang
Oliver Wang is an culture writer, scholar, and DJ based in Los Angeles. He's the author of Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area and a professor of sociology at CSU-Long Beach. He's the creator of the audioblog soul-sides.com and co-host of the album appreciation podcast, Heat Rocks.
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The iconic group's early music releasing online at last comes with a renewed interest in its career arc. Take a guided tour through one of the most distinguished runs in hip-hop history. -
Trugoy brought skill and care-free charisma to De La Soul's innovative music, which helped to usher in a new age of hip-hop. After years of legal disputes, that music will soon be available again. -
Raucous, outspoken and empowered, Davis, who died last week at 77, always knew what she wanted her music to be — raw — and she took control of her career in an era when few Black women could. -
These songs take on some of the ugliest stories in our history and reflect the commitment of Black musicians to telling the truth of how Black people have been wronged, and survived, and fought back. -
The first Dr. Octagon project to reunite Kool Keith with Dan the Automator in 22 years picks up right where they left off, as weird and warped as ever. -
What began as little more than a glorified metronome has worked its way into bedroom studios and state-of-the-art recording facilities alike. A new book chronicles the history and influence of the drum machine in all its wood- and plastic-paneled glory. -
The musician born Marcos Garcia was known for years as a member of the Afrobeat ensemble Antibalas — but one day, he began tinkering with his daughter's Casio keyboard. -
New York's Charles Bradley and London's James Hunter Six both mix inspiration and replication. -
A 1970s explosion in affordable music gear, particularly synthesizers and drum machines, yielded fascinating experiments by amateur artists. A new compilation collects electronic soul gems from that era. -
In a vintage photo, a solitary man with a Cab Calloway mustache grabs his hat with two hands and lets out a yell. Off the page and across 30 years, you can still hear the holler. Oliver Wang reviews a collection of music and photos from Chicago's 1970s soul scene.
